


The Price

by Rochelle_Templer



Category: The Monkees, The Monkees (TV)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 13:16:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11692422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rochelle_Templer/pseuds/Rochelle_Templer
Summary: A missing scene fic inspired by "I've Got a Little Song Here".





	The Price

It was a tense atmosphere at 1334 Beechwood that afternoon. Micky, Davy and Peter all sat in the front room, watching the door in anticipation of news none of them wanted to hear.

* * *

 

Their current dilemma had started innocently enough. A couple days ago, Mike had found a form letter in the mail advertising a music publishing company looking to buy songs from undiscovered songwriters. They had all seen plenty of advertisements and offers like this during their time in the local music scene, and Micky, Davy and Peter hadn’t given it much attention.

But for some reason, Mike had latched onto the idea. He seemed determined to begin another career as a paid songwriter as a way to supplement his work as a musician.

“ _Ok you guys go ahead and laugh. Songwriting is a million dollar business. You’ll see….”_

The rest of them had played along when they realized that Mike was serious about this and had wished him luck when he made an appointment with the publisher, Bernie Class. They figured that it was a long shot, but wanted to let him enjoy his enthusiasm for as long as it would last.

None of them had expected what happened next.

Not only had Class liked Mike’s song, he had offered it to a major star to record. Granted, the guys had genuinely liked Mike’s song, but their track record with the pursuit of fame and fortune had been less than stellar. This was exactly the kind of once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that had all hoped for. An almost unbelievable feat for them.

Still, as great as the opportunity was, for Micky, Davy and Peter, a large part of their elation was seeing how Mike responded to the news. The Texan tended to be laid-back and reserved about most things, but this time there was a joy in his demeanor that was impossible to ignore. He joked and smiled with a giddiness that was infectious and soon, all of them were excited about what the future would hold for them.

True to form, Mike began making plans for this future and it swiftly became clear to the rest of them that this shot at success was not just about himself. For Mike, it was about making so that they wouldn’t have to scrimp and starve anymore. It was about making it so that Davy could tell his grandfather that he was a success. It was about ensuring that Micky could go shopping and get some much-needed equipment for his drum kit. It was about giving Peter a chance to have fun and never worry about begging for work. As far as Mike was concerned this was a chance to give everyone the things they had been wishing for.

However, it wasn’t long before suspicions began to creep in.

Once Mike had returned from Class’ office, he had explained the offer he had been given in more detail. Class only needed a hundred dollars to get the ball rolling, a sum that would not be easy for four musicians who hadn’t worked for two weeks to come by.

It was Micky who had first expressed his concerns. He avoided asking the real question he had wanted to ask, if this was a legit deal or not, and focused on how Mike would be able to come up with the money.

“ _Don’t worry about that, Mick,”_ Mike had assured him. “ _I’ll find a way to make it happen. I promise. I mean, it’s an investment in our future, right? Nothing’s more important than that.”_

Micky had been concerned about how far Mike would go to get the money, but had put those worries aside so he could concentrate on supporting his friend’s venture.

Nevertheless, as soon as Mike had called them from Class’ office and told them that he had secured the deal, those worries had spiked again. Micky’s nose itched, and he knew from experienced that that was a sign that something shady was going on.

 _“I tell ya, Mike’s been had,”_ he had insisted.

Davy and Peter had quickly agreed with him and all of them had decided to go to Class’ office and find the evidence that he was a fraud. A few minutes and some quick changes from Monkeemen to piano repairmen later, and they had managed to talk their way into the publisher’s office and had started to spy on him.

They hadn’t had to keep up the subterfuge for long. Just as they had suspected, Class had reveled himself to be a crook within minutes of their tinkering with the piano. After that they had hastily made their exit and headed for a phone booth to tell Mike to wait for them to get home so they could talk. They had let the phone ring numerous times and had tried more than once before finally accepting the fact that the Texan wasn’t there.

“Where did he go?” Davy asked. “He should have gotten back from Class’ office by now.”

“Yeah, I know,” Micky said. “Wait a minute! You don’t suppose….?”

“What?” Davy replied.

“It’s just…Mike said something yesterday about thanking Joanne for giving him this opportunity,” Micky continued. “You don’t, you don’t suppose he actually went ahead and decided to go tell her, do ya?”

“How could he?” Davy asked. “I doubt her manager would even let him anywhere near her front door.”

“But she’s not at home,” Peter interjected. “She’s at the movie studio. Mike was telling me this morning that she’s started rehearsals for her next picture today.”

“Then that’s where he’s probably gone,” Davy said grimly. “Poor Mike….”

All of them nodded. Someone at the studio was sure to tell him that it had all been a scam. Perhaps even Joanne herself. As bad as it would have been to hear it from them, it would be absolutely humiliating for Mike to find out that way. By now, they knew that they would only create a bigger scene if they went to the studio to try and stop him and had decided to go back to the pad to wait for him. Their mood had been dismal on the walk home.

But they were in for one last nasty surprise on the way there.

“Hey guys,” Peter had said quietly, pausing in front of a pawn shop. “Isn’t that Mike’s guitar?”

Micky and Davy had rushed over to see what Peter was looking at. They shared an audible gulp when they spied Mike’s blonde Gretsch in the store window. It was a superb instrument and one of the Texan’s most prized possessions. It was then that they all realized just how far Mike had been willing to go for this dream. Micky closed his eyes and inwardly sighed when Mike’s words came back to him.

“ _…I’ll find a way to make it happen. I promise….”_

When he opened his eyes, he saw Davy and Peter looking at him with what was sure to be similar forlorn expressions to the one on his face. He was sure that all of them were thinking about the moment when Mike made the painful decision to hand over his precious guitar and about how he hadn’t breathed a word to any of them about the sacrifice he had made.

More than one person passed by the window and eyed the guitar sitting there. And that was enough to make Davy clench his jaw with a renewed sense of purpose in his eyes.

“Mick,” Davy said, grabbing his arm. “We can’t let Mike lose his guitar. We can’t.”

Both Micky and Peter nodded in agreement and the three of them dashed into the store. It had taken a lot of begging, pleading, and every cent they had, but they managed to convince the owner to take the guitar out of the window and hold it for three days to give them a chance to come up with the rest of the money to buy it back. None of them had any idea how exactly they would come by the needed cash, but they were single-minded in their determination to find a way to get it back.

After that, it was a matter of going back to the pad and waiting.

* * *

 

An hour later, they were still waiting. They figured that Mike was probably taking his time to get back home and decided to give him another hour before they would go out and look for him.

At one point, they reflected on the fact that Mike had been duped in the first place. One of the many reasons why they had made the Texan their leader was because they knew him to be very smart and street-savvy. Usually, Mike was the one steering them away from cons like this. Thus, it was surprising to all them that he had been tricked so easily.

The more they thought about it though, the less shocking it became. There was no way Class could have known ahead of time, but he had stumbled upon one of Mike’s greatest weaknesses: a desire for success that was coupled with an unhealthy lack of self-confidence. They thought back to the early days of the group when Mike had refused to sing at any of their gigs despite their insistence that he had a great voice. He wouldn’t even sing the songs that he had written himself and would casually hand them off to either Micky or Davy with the suggestion that they would somehow “go down better” with their audiences if they sang them. It had taken a lot of coaxing and a little mischief to finally convince the Texan to sing on stage with them. Micky, Davy, and Peter were immensely relieved when the audience reactions confirmed what they had tried to tell Mike all along about his talent and they were gratified to see Mike finally get more of the attention he deserved as a member of the group.

Still, they weren’t blind to the fact that Mike still held some doubts about his performances. Once in a while, he would slide back into his old habits, and they would have to push him to not try to let himself fade into the background. When viewed from that perspective, it made sense that songwriting appealed to him as a way to be successful while still managing to keep a lower profile.

A sniffle from Peter broke the silence. Micky and Davy looked over to see Peter clutching the sheet music to Mike’s song, tears in his eyes.

“Peter,” Micky said softly, patting his arm. “Hey Pete, don’t cry.”

“It’s not fair,” Peter sobbed. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Mike was going to be a big success.”

Davy clasped Peter’s shoulder and shared a look with Micky. They both knew that it wasn’t the loss of fame or fortune that was getting to Peter. It was the idea that it would hurt Mike so much that was upsetting him.

“You’re right, it’s not fair,” Davy said. “That crook Class has something coming to him, right enough.”

“But no matter what, Mike still has us, Pete,” Micky assured him. “We’re not going to let him down.”

Peter nodded vigorously as he dried his eyes. Then they went back to their silent vigil of waiting for their friend to show up.

Less than a minute later, there was a sound at the door and they watched Mike trudge into the pad. The Texan was maintaining his usual stoic manner as he walked in to greet them. It would have been more than enough to conceal his true feelings to most people, but Micky, Davy and Peter knew him better than just about everyone else in the world.

It was his eyes that had given Mike away. Gone was the clever and calm strength that they normally projected. All that remained was a crushing sense of resignation. The excitement and hope that had been there only hours before had been replaced with defeat. It was painful to watch, but the guys forced themselves to keep their gaze on him as they prepared to offer words of support.

However, it was that same eye contact that had clued Mike in that they knew what had just happened to him, his expression changing as he registered this awareness. The rest of them weren’t shocked by this. The Texan always had been staggeringly perceptive about what was on their minds at any given time. It was an annoying trait to deal with whenever they tried to surprise him, but otherwise, they accepted it as another facet of why he made such a good leader.

Right now though, it seemed more like a curse than anything else as they watched Mike’s eyes dim even more as he turned away and silently walked toward his bedroom. He slammed the door behind him, making it emphatically clear that he wasn’t in the mood to talk.

The rest of them felt their shoulders sink along with their spirits. They had known that it would be bad, but this felt even worse than they had anticipated. For several moments, all of them had sat there, dumbstruck at the gloom that had settled in.

Eventually, Micky glanced over at Davy and saw a new emotion starting to take root alongside the sadness: anger. It was a feeling that swiftly took hold in his own heart too. Even Peter clenched his hands more than once as he mulled over what had just happened. They still felt terrible for Mike, but they were also furious at Class for how he had wounded their friend. Micky thought back to what Davy had said about the publisher having something coming to him and found himself agreeing wholeheartedly that they would not let this pass. Whatever happened next, they would find a way to make Class pay for what he had done.

For now, they would focus on comforting Mike. But the wheels were already turning in their heads. They would formulate a plan to fix this, and this time, they would succeed. It might not be easy, but the only alternative was letting Class win and watching a piece of Mike’s soul crumble in the process.

And that was a price none of them was willing to pay.

 

     

 


End file.
